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“A screaming comes across the sky” (3). One of the most famous
opening lines in literature might as well refer to the novel it
sets off – Gravity's Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon's
masterpiece, marks an event in literary history whose significance
readers have argued and will argue for a long time, but which
nobody can afford to ignore. Published in 1973, it is often
considered as the postmodern novel, redefining both
postmodernism and the novel in general. It is also often considered
to be unreadable; add “turgid”, “overwritten,” and “obscene” to
that, and you get the verdict of the Pulitzer Prize advisory board
in 1974. At the same time, however, all the judges unanimously
voted for the novel to …

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4900Gravity's Rainbow3Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.